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Internal Honda title fight with Shedden and Neal

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With the British Touring Car Championship season end getting closer, the title fight is getting hotter and hotter. For the Honda Racing Team, the title fight is one of a kind with Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal separated by just one points in first and second of the drivers championship.

“We want to win for Honda so we will be looking out for each other, but of course I want to prevail. It is going to be a really tough fight,” said championship leader Shedden.

“Myself and Flash will obviously be looking after each other and we are both determined to win the title but we still need to be looking over our shoulders too. There are so many people still in with a shout of winning this championship that we can’t take our eye off the ball. This weekend will be a crucial one,” said Neal.

The both are going to face the opposition of the BTCC field at Rockingham this weekend, with Mat Jackson being the closest competitor, 24 points behind Shedden.

With the strong run of results for Shedden and Neal, both are heavy on ballast with 45 kilos for Shedden and 36 kilos for Neal. Not to forget either is the additional 20 kilos which all S2000/NGTC cars were awarded with by TOCA ahead of Rockingham.

“There are three heavy acceleration zones and that is where it is going to hurt us but we know we have a great car in the Civic and the chassis is excellent so hopefully that will help us overcome any handicap. In a sense, Rockingham is one of the worst tracks to come to if you have to carry 45 kilogrammes but it is the price you have to pay for wins,” said Shedden.

With weather forecasts pointing at rain for the BTCC weekend at Rockingham, Neal is confident for a strong run with the Civic.

“I have checked the forecast and it looks like it is going to rain at the weekend, which would make things very interesting. I have won in the wet at Rockingham before, but it makes things difficult in terms of shaking up the order. It is impossible to predict how the others will get on in the rain, but we know that the Civic should be strong,” said Neal.